Watchdog opens inquiry on lawmaker's vehicle

SACRAMENTO (AP) -- California's campaign watchdog said Thursday it is reviewing whether a former state senator broke the law when he used campaign funds to purchase a vehicle formerly owned by the state.

The Fair Political Practices Commission has sent a letter to Republican Bob Dutton, the former minority leader from Rancho Cucamonga, questioning why the title for the 2005 Chevrolet Tahoe is in his name if it was for campaign use.

Depending on the response, the commission could open a formal investigation as early as next week, said Gary Winuk, chief of the commission's Enforcement Division.

Dutton said he believed he was following the law.

"It's an officeholder account and it's been used for officeholder purposes. I've bounced it off a couple attorneys and they didn't see any problems," said Dutton, who lost a bid for Congress last month.

The inquiry is based on a report published Wednesday by The Associated Press on at least a dozen lawmakers, including Dutton, who had their vehicles repaired at taxpayers' expense shortly before they bought them from independent dealers who purchased the vehicles from the state. Dutton's vehicle had nearly $6,000 worth of repairs, including a dent repair and a detailed cleaning, in the weeks before he bought it last year.

State documents obtained by the AP through public records requests showed that of 64 lawmakers who had state-financed repairs performed as the program was ending, 37 purchased their vehicles. All told, the state spent more than $78,000 to repair, clean and upgrade the state-provided vehicles in the final nine months of the program.

Dutton was the only lawmaker to use campaign funds.

The Department of Motor Vehicles shows the Tahoe titled in his name. Dutton said he used his name so he could obtain insurance on a vehicle that he said was intended to be used for official travel.

That appears to have crossed a legal line, Winuk said.

"When he put the title in his name, it belongs to him. It doesn't belong to the campaign anymore," Winuk said. "It's not a political, legislative or governmental purpose unless the title is in the campaign's name."

Now that he has left office, Dutton said he plans to sell the vehicle and donate the proceeds to charity.

Dutton's use of campaign funds shows the need for reforms, said Philip Ung, a spokesman for the government watchdog group Common Cause.

"These campaign funds are being used as slush funds in some ways," he said. "They spend it on a whole lot of things that aren't really related to campaigns, whether it's gifts to staff or something they write off as office expenses. They spend money on (neck) ties or vacations."

It's unlikely that lawmakers would vote to restrict their own use of campaign funds, Ung said, so it might be something that would have to go before voters as a ballot initiative.